


Rushing into Love

by OkeyDonkey



Category: 18th Century CE RPF, American Revolution RPF, Historical RPF
Genre: Ben Franklin as a mentor figure, Continental Congress, Deceleration of Independence, Feelings, Founding Fathers, Gay Founding Fathers (Hamilton), Longing, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Public Humiliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27980706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OkeyDonkey/pseuds/OkeyDonkey
Summary: At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Ben Rush pines and Thomas Jefferson does what he does best.
Relationships: Benjamin Rush & Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush/Thomas Jefferson
Kudos: 3





	Rushing into Love

Ben stared hopelessly at him across the room. Thomas freaking Jefferson, the star of the south, the man that went against every single thing Ben stood for, but he couldn’t help it, Tom was gorgeous. He commanded the room. Every time HaMiLtoN stood up, Tom immediately shut him down, with such confidence Ben could only hope to have. Let’s also point out that they were all here because of Tom, and that sexy writing of his, the Declaration of whatever, Ben wasn’t paying attention to what he was signing, he was paying attention to who handed him the quill.

“But Thomas would never even look in my direction,” Rush thought, sighing. There were 54 other men in that single room, and in Ben’s mind everyone was much more attractive than himself. They were stuck in this stupid room, and no-one even cared about Rush’s opinion, they just “needed someone from PA” and Ben just happened to be there. He would rather be much farther from this place, and far away from his stupid crush that wouldn’t even give him the light of day. 

Ben felt a presence behind him, and he already knew who it was, it was the only person that he talked to at these meetings. 

“Benjamin, you mustn't stare like that, you’re going to need bifocals like me if you keep that up son.” 

“I don’t care, Frank, I just want him to notice me ya know? I’ll never be enough for him, but maybe if he just acknowledges me, that would be enough.” 

Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin’s friendship started out as a joke, one of the PoPulaR Crowd (Probably Alex) saw their names, that they were both from Philadelphia, and then proceeded to set up a meeting of the “Benz”. Needless to say, they both got along great. Franklin became a sort of mentor figure to Rush, being almost 40 years his senior. They both came from Quacker families and were activists in their own rights. Rush being the anti-social introvert he was, would rather sit in the corner during these meetings, only talking to Franklin, “Frank”, whenever Franklin stopped chasing anyone he hadn’t told his “key and kite” story to yet.

“If you want him to ever notice you you’ll have to go talk to him, maybe tell him to add something to the writing?” Franklin said, looking at Rush’s line of sight and seeing exactly who he was staring at.

“That will never work Frank, I don’t even know what I’m here for. You pulled me out of my lab at the ungodly hour of 4 in the afternoon and just brought me here.” 

“Well, son Thomas wrote the Declaration of independence, surely you knew that.” Rush nodded. “What I personally saw was missing was the fact that they didn’t mention anything about the enslaved, I mean we are getting freedom from Britain, so why shouldn’t they get freedom too?” He nudges Rush, “Maybe you could mention that to him, eh,” Franklin winks, “A pretty face would probably get his attention.” Rush blushes at this but gains newfound confidence at these words. 

“You know what Frank, I’m gonna do it” Rush stands and hugs Franklin.

He then gets in the long line to talk to the Man, the Legend, Thomas Jefferson in the flesh. He goes over what he should say in head over and over again, occasionally looking over at Franklin, who gives him a big thumbs up. He doesn’t even notice when the person in front of him moves and he’s up next. Someone pushed him forward, and Ben trips over his own feet, right in front of Tom. Tom actually looks concerned, running over to Ben and yelling at the person behind him. Ben thinks he heard the name “Lee” mentioned. He finally looks down at Ben and with all the compassion in his heart asks, “Hey there, are you okay?” 

“Uh-uh y-yeah, I’m good” Ben so gracefully replies. 

Tom was still standing over Ben, and a couple of men had started to look over at the commotion. Tom held out his hand, and Ben took it, hoping Tom wouldn’t feel the sweat that soaked his palms. Tom helped Ben get up before wiping his hands on his pants, (that Ben thought perfectly fit him in every way imaginable) smiling at Ben and saying “I’m Thomas, but you can call me Tom, or Jeff, or anything you want really,” Tom chuckled for a moment before realizing that Ben was much too nervous to laugh and asked, “So, what is your name and what are you doing here?” 

“Um, I’m Benjamin, but you can just call me Ben I guess.” 

He opened his mouth to answer the second part but Tom interrupted him. “Oh, Ben! From Philadelphia right?” Ben nodded, “So we’re right in your hometown then. I’ve heard a lot about you,” (Ben blushed at this, previously thinking that Tom knew nothing about him) “The bifocals” (Ben's smile immediately dropped) “The ‘activism’, and of course the famous key and kite story!” Tom looked so excited about finally meeting THE Ben Franklin, and Ben Rush felt disappointed.

“Oh- uh… no, I’m Benjamin Rush, I’m a doctor, and a teacher I guess?” 

“Of course, my apologizes for getting you mixed up with Mr.Franklin, though I don’t know how I did, a cute little face like yours doesn’t exactly match up with what I’ve heard about Franklin” Ben starts blushing and he knows he probably looks as red as a tomato “That is a coincidence though right, two Bens in Philadelphia, okay, sorry getting off track, so, what are you here for Ben Rush the doctor and teacher?” 

Ben gulps and states, “Well, as I was reading this document, should I say wonderful document” (Tom Smirks) “I found it was missing something” (Tom’s Smirk drops) 

“Oh? Tell me what it is, I love critiques” Tom says, even though his reputation is built on not being able to take constructive criticism, or really any criticism. 

“Well, you see, it was missing the place where the enslaved would also be free, and- and I know it must not have been on purpose, but I think that for this document, we really must be clear.”  
Tom looked confused, “Well of course it was on purpose.” Now Ben looked confused too “ You must be joking,” When Ben continues to look confused, Tom laughs and says, “We aren’t going to free them, now why would we do that Ben?'' Tom continues laughing and Ben knows he's about to start crying. “Now why would you waste my time with that silly request, boy?” Tom says, placing a hand on Ben’s shoulder and turning him around to see the line of men waiting to talk to Jefferson, Tom’s hysterical laugh having called even more attention to the middle of the room. Pushing him a little, Tom continues laughing “Now go along boy, we don’t have room for your silly idealist ideas here”. 

Tears started streaming down his face as he walked blindly, Ben just wanted to leave. He felt Franklin’s arms surround him and could hear laughter from the other men. They weren’t supposed to cry here, they were supposed to stand strong and fight for what you believe in, and Benjamin Rush couldn’t do or be either of those things. Franklin started whispering in Rush’s ear, trying to get him to calm down. “It’s okay Benjamin, It’s okay”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Benjamin. Benjamin” Ben Rush sat up and looked at his surroundings, the same old room in Philadelphia, filled to the brim with men, the room where he wished he could just leave. “Thomas just announced something about him speaking in a few minutes, and I didn’t want you to miss your loverboy by dozing off,” Franklin smiled kindly at Rush, who offered a weak smile back. Tom started talking and Ben couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. 

“At least I know that nightmare will never come true,” Ben thought, “Because I know I’ll never have the courage to speak to Tom”


End file.
